The Game
by Apocalyptic Rain
Summary: "If they find you, they'll kill us both. So no peaking." Malec! *warning* holocost inspired. RATED M AND NOT JUST FOR BLOOD/GORE. Magnus is a feature reporter and information broker at the Idris Inquirer but when a horrible crime takes place right outside I.I.'s HQ, Magnus will go from reporter to witness. To a crime punishable by death.


**I'm not dead, surprisingly.**

**I've had this in my head a while and I feel like i'm in a complete jam with Avant-Garde and i really, really, hate it. So i'm really sorry & i'll try to get a chapter up sometime this week.**

**i own nada, son.**

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Magnus sat on the dated velvet couch, superior. A team of reporters surrounded him, once his closest friends, now ready to milk him for all he knew. The Chief, Luke Garroway, finally stepped in. His expression was hard, his hat and coat dusted with powdery white snow. He leaned on his fat, mahogany desk, carved and ancient.

Magnus crossed his legs.

"Well, Magnus, I'm sure you know why we're all here."

"Indeed I do." Magnus watch carefully as each of his friends brought out their recorders, their notepads, their cameras.

"Well then, lets start from the beginning, Shall we?"

"And please, no theatrics." The words were carefully articulated to hold double, maybe even triple meaning. Magnus smirked.

"Why Cami, Thats what I'm all about."

She glared at him shaking her head, The large blond curls under her Victory Rolls tumbling.

"It would do you well to tell us the whole truth, Magnus Bane. Harboring Nephilim is punishable by death."

Luck sighed, " Camille, you know very well that will not happen."

"Wait, If I may interject," A tall, pale brunette pushed her way to the front of the room, "If, Magnus is here to give his story, why is everyone taking note? Wouldn't that only cause conflict with Publishing?"

"The publishing team will print one of the stories for Double I but-as you all know- Magnus is the only source of this story, seeing as he is the sole witness, other than the boy. I intend to water-down then sell the others' reports once we're done here as a first-scoop to the other papers."

"Isn't that lying?"

"I'd like to refer to it as: 'Paying the bills'.'Sides if we print it right after the sale there isn't much they can say. They got it before it was printed-"

"If we could just get on with this I'd wholly appreciate it." Magnus wasn't too keen on letting the attention escape him.

"Alright, Magnus begin."

"And ignore Camille, I'd like this story to be as juicy as possible." Tessa winked.

With a smile so coy and a deep inhale, Magnus pushed himself off the sofa and perched himself on the coffee table for the sole purpose of being face-to-face with his audience.

"Well, Dolls, it's quite a tale. And lucky for you I remember it like It was yesterday-"

From the corner of his eye, Magnus could see Ragnor roll his eyes. "It was yesterday-"

"I'm sorry do you want me to tell the story or not?"

When Ragnor didn't reply, "Alright, lets see...Well I was making my daily rounds, asking everyone I knew was involved with the war what was going on in the front. The streets were slick with ice, making falling seem like a normal occurrence. I had just passed Billie Jean's Meant Market, when I noticed a crowd forming in the town square.

People had stopped moving. Completely. Shudders began to shut, shops began to close. The silence was maddening. Not even the wail of children or the shouts of newsboys out on the streets. And then I heard it. Shouts were coming from the center of the crowd's attention. In the middle of the square. I pushed my way into the crowd. I tried to ask what happened but no one I got to the front I noticed something so incredibly bazaar: the entire crowd had formed a line. Not a circle but a half circle. Almost as if there was some sort of invisible force preventing them from getting any closer."

There were soldiers packed in front of us, though none of them seemed to be doing anything. For a moment I didn't know what was going on, and then the yelling started again, some people shifted, and there lying in the bloodied snow was a boy, in nothing but torn trousers. He shivered violently- though I can't say how long he had been out in the cold. His mouth opened and closed, releasing white little puffs around lavender colored should have seen it, it was so beautiful but so horribly tragic. The man shouting was tall with platinum hair and the most unforgettable black . I didn't know this but that man-that horrid,violent man-was Valentine Morgenstern."

There was a collective gasp amongst the reporters;this new information sent them into a fit of questions.

"How is this possible?"

"He's supposed to be in-"

"Why weren't we informed?"

_"Ehem."_

The was a slight pause before the attention was returned so graciously back to Magnus. "I understand how much of a," Magnus raised his eyebrow, "Shock this might be, However I can assure you all your silly little questions will be answered at a later time."  
"Magnus, this is hardly a matter for its true what you say about Valentine-"

"It is."

"It needs to be addressed." This, coming from Jem, brought Magnus's thoughts to allowed himself a moment. "I-That is an entirely different story. One that I will only answer in the absence of recorders and such."

"Now, where was I... Valentine Morgenstern- Ah yes. Well. He was yelling at the boy and the poor thing just started sobbing. So, I crossed the line. And well, I found that there wasn't one boy. There were two."

For the first time Raphael spoke, in his same indifferent tone. Or at least it was close. "What of the other boy?"

"Shot in the head. And the neck. And the stomach. His blood was everywhere. Even on the other boy. His skin had even gone blue. He was ten? Twelve, Maybe. It took him by surprise. I don't think the other had even realized it; he was still holding his hand and covering him with his coat. It took me a minute to register that Valentine had been speaking in the Nephilim tongue.

'If only you had listened,' He said 'If only you had stayed in the slumps where yeh look at what you've done.'He pulled the boy's head and bent him over the body. He said, 'I'll do this to you, I'll do it to your family, now tell me.'

And then-Oh God. Then he pulled out a _gun_. And then I remember running. The other soldiers didn't even move towards me,in fact they looked exited.I realized what I had done. I stepped far out of line. so I did the only think I could think to do; I talked my way out of it. I knew that the Fuhrer had been searching for a specific Nephilim, and I had just happened to...stumble upon the whereabouts of such individual. I asked Valentine if that was what he had been looking for. He simply narrowed his eyes, took the telegram I'd received earlier and read it over a few times. He gave a sharp nod to the soldiers and went on his merry way. But not without a few homey threats.

After that I picked up the boy, who was, by the way, still sobbing, and covered him with my coat. Which-now that I think about it- still needs to be picked up from the cleaners. Anyway, I took him to my loft and cleaned him up and clothed him. Fed him, and all that jazz. He had a bit of a bite so I wrapped his fingers, and sat him by the fire. I called a friend of mine, and then gave him some hot chocolate, which he refused. He wouldn't answer any of my questions, wouldn't give so much as a wink. He just sat there, staring into the fire. Eventually my friend arrived. She told me the boy had no parents, and that his younger brother was his only surviving family. Until now. I decided at that point, I would do right by both of us. I knew it was too much to risk his life being here-should valentine not find what he want, or finds it and is not satisfied-he'd kill us both. So I had him quietly shipped to New York. He didn't protest when I told him, but he did say 'Thank you'. He left 'round twelve at night and is expected to hit port in Manhattan some time in late December. In fact I do believe he's on a boat right now..."

Magnus's musings were cut short by DeQuincey. "So, that's is it then? You ship 'im off to Amah'rica? J'us like that?"

"Well you heard the lady, didn't you, D?" In a mocking voice, "Harboring Nephilim is punishable by death."

Camille looked up from her recorder and sneered.

"Oh, stop pretending we didn't have a thing."

"So, if I might ask, What was it you were going to tell us,Magnus? About valentine?" said Tessa, still seated with her notebook nestled expectantly on her lap. Magnus debated whether or not he really wanted to do this now.

"Yeah," Magnus stood up. "I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Ay, Dios Mio."

Jem made a face but still maintained his spot on Magnus's shit-I-care-about list. A list with which Raphael's membership is still under much debate. "I agree with Raphael, if Valentine's other whereabouts were so important that-"

Magnus clicked his teeth."Look as much as I would like to tell you I am, to be quite honest, mentally and physically exhausted-"

"From what? Shipping the boy off? Taking off the load and passing it to someone else?" DeQuincey was most certainly not on this list.

"I'm not a hero,I'm not looking for glory or-" Magnus snatched his trench coat off the sofa and shoved it on. "What if I failed?. I couldn't think of anything else to keep him safe, and fed, and warm. I can hardly even offer myself that kind of stability, _especially _working this job. So yes, DeQuincey, I passed the load onto someone else. Someone who can prevent him from ending up like his brother. Not that you would know what it feels like; making a decision for someone other than yourself. You know, the ones that have consequences. The ones that effect another persons_ life_." The silence was so astounding, it took Magnus a moment to realized the only thing he could hear in the entire office was his own breathing. He turned sharply to Luke.

"I-"

"Dismissed."

Magnus's reply was sharp."Thank you."

Magnus forced the office door as wide as he could, finding that half the station was leaning against it. He kept his head up, peering down at them through his nose. Most had them decency to avert their eyes, however some chose to challenge him, though they would get no fight today. Magnus stalked quietly through the station, each step cooling his anger. When he opened the doors to the building, he was met with a bitter cold. The snow was still mounting just as it had been this morning, though it didn't seem to be stopping anyone. Magnus made his usual way to the loft, but stopped, and turned abruptly in the other direction. He had done the same coming in that morning. A little bit longer in the cold wouldn't kill him and if it did, oh well.

He decided, after a while, that his endurance in the cold merited him a night of sweets and spoils. So he took a detour down to the idris bakery, below and just a few doors down from his own loft.

He knew, on special days, Agatha would give her favorite customers a few servings of soup, and since today was particularly cold (a least to Magnus), he hoped that maybe he wouldn't have to cook tonight.

He entered the small, shabby bakery and was please by the warm wave of pastry wrapping around his frost-nipped face. It was a feeling he wished he could re-live for the rest of his life.

Agatha watched politely as Magnus ordered more then twice his usual order. She smiled teasingly when he'd ask if there was any soup. She had handed him two thermoses full of it, and a large box for his pastries(he said, in his defense, he was feeling _particularly_ hungry that evening with no clear sign as to why) and sent him on his way.

Magnus rushed home in hopes of keeping his spoils of the day warm. He picked up his neighbor's paper and made his way up the stairs to his loft. He unlocked his door and closed it loudly. He found his fire was still going,and chairman, nowhere to be seen. He dumped his winter clothes at the door, and threw himself on his favorite gentleman's chair, balancing his soup and pastries comfortably on his lap. He opened up his paper and began reading, waiting for a little stutter in the corner of his eye.

"Window nook. I see you."

Magnus turned and watched as the window seat slowly lifted, revealing first a set of beautiful, cerulean eyes and then a very disheartened boy.

"What did I tell you about peaking?"

"Don't."

"Then why did you?" Magnus asked, not unkind.

"I heard you come in." He replied .

"You heard me because I wanted you to hear me. Alec, what if I were a German, or Valentine,or..." Magnus waved his hand in the air. "The cleaning lady? You would have been caught."

Alec let his black hair fall into his eyes. He pulled his legs to his chest with what little space he had. "I'm sorry."

Magnus stood, picked up his goodies and motioned for the boy to follow him to his couch. Alec sat gingerly while Magnus, once again, found it befitting to plop rather then simply sit.

Alec eyed the food in Magnus's arms. Magnus eyed Alec.

When Alec realized this he turned away, flushed.

"Are you hungry?"

The boy nodded, delicately.

"Doll, you don't have to ask-"

"Thank you," Alec stared at Magnus for a while, searching for something. For a long, painful moment Magnus wondered if this was going to be a regular thing; guessing what was inside this boy's head.

Alec pressed his lips together and then began to speak once more. His eyes where glassy.

"What you did...what you're doing. Not even my own family would do that for me, Magnus. And," Magnus could see the tears brimming.

He sighed, and pressed his hand against Alec's face. "You don't have to worry anymore."

"I want to help more."

He smiled at this. "Do you?" Magnus scooted forward, and pulled Alec's head into his chest. Magnus rested his chin atop Alec's messy dark hair. "You can help by not peaking." Magnus felt a delicate rumble under him. He pulled Alec's head from under him, thumbing his teary cheeks.

From the box Magnus plucked a large chocolate muffin. He grabed Alec's left hand and curled his fingers around it.

"Okay, enough teary eyes. Now,let me see your arm."

Alec sat up, and sat on his legs, while Magnus examined his right arm. Magnus pulled up the sleeve of Alec's sweater (his sweater).

His shoulder slumped slightly, though Alec was too deep in the muffin to take notice.

NEPHILIM

H

OA

Magnus observed the letters that marked Alec against his kind.

Nephilim blood. Homosexual. Of Alicante.

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**I'm not sure if i'll continue this...its not a good stand alone though, which irks me. **

**this, btw is not for the faint, i promise, if i continue it will get worse. **

**on the plus side it will get steamy. **

**I'm just going to throw this out there as i am high on fatigue but it was considerably harder narrating through magnus. i had to shorten it and make it a lot less refined just because..well no one actually talks like their writing. well...i do my writings kinds shifty.  
**

**Also i mean no offence to anyone offend by this particular...setting/ genre.**

**Also i uploaded this late and im sure there are countless mistakes. so if you find any and message me or comment or, you know, just comment for the hell of it I WILL LOVE YOU FOR AN ETERNITY. **


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